Qastina
Qastina
قسطينة Kastina[1] | ||
---|---|---|
Village | ||
Etymology: El Kustîneh, Kŭstîleh, i.e., Castellum[2] | ||
Geopolitical entity Mandatory Palestine | | |
Subdistrict | Gaza | |
Date of depopulation | 9 July 1948[5] | |
Area | ||
• Total | 12,019 dunams (12.019 km2 or 4.641 sq mi) | |
Population (1945) | ||
• Total | 890[3][4] | |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces | |
Secondary cause | Influence of nearby town's fall | |
Current Localities | Kfar Warburg,[6] Arugot,[6] Kfar Ahim,[6] Avigdor,[6] Kiryat Malakhi[6] |
Qastina (
Location
Qastina was situated on an elevated spot in a generally flat area on the coastal plain, on the highway between
History
Ottoman period
Qastina was incorporated into the
The Syrian
In 1838, Edward Robinson saw el-Kustineh located northwest of Tell es-Safi, where he was staying,[10] and noted it as a Muslim village located in the Gaza district.[11]
In 1863, the French explorer
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Qastina had 152 houses and a population of 469, though the population count included men only.[13][14] In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Qastina as a village laid out in a northwest–southeast direction on flat ground. It had adobe brick structures, a well, and gardens.[15]
British Mandate period
In the
The villagers had a mosque, and in 1936 an elementary school was started, which was shared with the neighbouring village of Tall al-Turmus. By the mid-1940s the school had 161 students.[7]
In 1939 Kfar Warburg was established on what was traditionally village land, 3 km southwest of the village site.[6]
By the 1945 statistics the population was 890, all Muslims,[3] with a total of 12,019 dunams of land.[4] The villagers lived mostly of agriculture. In addition, villagers raised animals and poultry, and worked in the British military camp (Beer Tuvia) nearby.[7] In 1944–45 a total of 235 dunums was used for citrus and bananas, 7,317 dunums used for cereals, 770 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[17] while 37 dunams were built-up, urban, land.[18]
1948 war
Qastina was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947
A preparatory order for the conquest of Qastina and other neighbouring villages (
On 9 July 1948, the village and its over 147 houses were completely destroyed by Israeli forces after its inhabitants fled an assault by the Givati Brigade in Operation An-Far. Qastina was used as a rallying point by the IDF seventh Battalion of the 8th Armored Brigade after the failed attack on Iraq al-Manshiyya in part of the Israeli drive to open a route to the Negev during Operation Yoav.[22]
Israel after 1948 war
In early 1949
Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and four villages were later established on the lands of Qastina; Arugot and Kfar Ahim were founded in 1949 after the village had been destroyed. They were followed by Avigdor in 1950 and Kiryat Malakhi in 1951.[6] Be'er Tuvia, which was also known by the name Qastina after its establishment in 1887, lies adjacent.
In 1992, Walid Khalidi notes of Qastina that:
"All that remains is the debris of houses strewn across the site. The research team investigating the current status of the depopulated villages visited the site and found it overgrown with bushes and tall grasses that were about 2m high."[7]
Nowadays, Qastina is the popular name for Malakhi Junction.
See also
- Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
- RAF Qastina
References
- ^ a b Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. 9
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 272
- ^ a b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 32
- ^ a b c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 46
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #275. Also gives causes of depopulation.
- ^ a b c d e f g Khalidi, 1992, p. 131
- ^ a b c d e Khalidi, 1992, pp. 130-131
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 149; cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 130
- ^ "Al-Rihla", cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 130
- ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 364
- ^ Robinson and Smith, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 118
- ^ Guérin, 1869, pp. 87 -88
- ^ Socin, 1879, p. 156 Also noted it in the Gaza district
- ^ Hartmann, 1883, p. 133, noted 157 houses
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 410; cited in Khalidi, 1992, p.130
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 5
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 88
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 138
- ^ "Map of UN Partition Plan". United Nations. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. 176
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. 436
- ^ Shapira, 2008, p. 243
- ISBN 977-416-105-Xp 75
Bibliography
- Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H. H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
- Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre.
- Hartmann, M. (1883). "Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 6: 102–149.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
- Palmer, E. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 2. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4028-3.
- Socin, A. (1879). "Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 2: 135–163.
External links
- Welcome To Qastina
- Qastina, Zochrot
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Qastina from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center